When she first came to the sacred tribal lands in the California wilderness, anthropologist Tory Kent paid little heed to the tales of a mystical warrior keeping watch there. But then a dark figure appeared through the mists before her -- and suddenly the unimaginable became reality.

Wherever -- whenever -- he had come from, the one called Loka was truly a man, and he awakened a need within Tory that could scarcely be denied. For he had returned, after a century in the shadows, to claim her -- the woman destiny had promised only to him.

Though entangled by undeniable passion, each walked a path seemingly impossible to weld together. For Tory was tied to the present. And Loka was bound by an age-old promise to protect his people's legacy . . . even at the cost of his own life.